There are a number of factors to take into consideration when identifying a web portal development company to work with. The criteria for selection will vary depending on your web portal requirements. However, the following points will help you identify and evaluate the right web portal services provider and ensure that your final choice is future proof.
Identifying a Web Portal Development Company
When identifying and evaluating portal development services you should look for the following characteristics:
1. Ensure the web portal technology is easy to configure, use and adapt
Creating and maintaining web portal software should be easy. If the technology it is based upon requires a team of specialists to maintain and develop you will eradicate the agility the organisation can achieve through web portals.
2. Select a web portal provider that also understands application integration
Capturing, storing and viewing information within a web portal is just the beginning for many organisations. Business processes often cross multiple systems and, as such, you will need to integrate your web portal with other databases.
3. The web portal services provider can offer a demo license option
If the web portal development company claims that its web portal software is easy-to-use, put these claims to the test. During the demo process you will get an idea for the level and quality of support the organisation provides and the knowledge you can access. A professional web portal technology provider will assign an account manager to you during your demo and will guide you through the use of the solution.
4. Ask to see their project scoping documentation
Evaluating a vendor’s project scoping documentation is a great indicator of the quality of work that will be delivered. Web portals are successful when they meet the exact needs of the user, so identifying if the vendors documentation adequately captures this information is an important consideration.
5. Establish the level of built-in security features
By the nature of what you are trying to achieve you will be opening up your most valuable asset e.g. your data to many different people in multiple locations. Ask for a clear and concise document stating the exact security features that come as standard with the solution.
Other areas for consideration include:
There are many other factors to consider when selecting the right web portal development company for your business. For example, you will need to consider the types of web portals that are suitable for your requirements, who has access to your portal and who will be involved in the project. Additional considerations include:
- Do they have a market proven reputation for web portal and rapid application development?
- Do they have market proven experience in multiple primary business solutions e.g. SAP, Sage, Microsoft etc.?
- Accredited development status with the mainstream business application vendors?
- Can they provide documented case studies or testimonials?
- Do they offer support services?
- How frequently do they provide software upgrades and version releases?
- Do they provide product training?
About Codeless Platforms
Our two platforms, Applications Platform and Business Process Automation (BPA) Platform, have been developed so that businesses like yours can quickly and easily build applications, including web portals and app extensions, automate business processes and integrate systems, and benefit from solutions that are 100% aligned with your existing processes and business objectives.
Both products are developed in the UK and Europe by our development team and provide you with easy-to-use drag and drop, point and click solutions to reduce the need for heavy coding.
Our knowledge and expertise has grown in line with this development and established us as a highly experienced and reputable software company. As a result, we are fully endorsed by partners and software vendors (Access, Infor, Microsoft, Progress, Sage and SAP) alike.
For more information on how to plan, build and deploy your web portal, download the Quick Start Guide below or call us on +44 (0)330 99 88 700.
